Small or generally difficult to manipulate objects and objects which can be contaminated by touch are generally picked up and manipulated using tweezers and vacuum pick-up devices. Especially with respect to objects that are easily damaged, tweezers have been found less than satisfactory although in wide use. With extremely small objects which are very thin, tweezers have proven most unsatisfactory.
The tweezers and other object holders in common use are not satisfactory as the holder is so large. Some holders which do not securely hold an object risk accidental dropping of the object, resulting in their damage and loss. U.S. Pat. No. 1,001,991 describes an object holding device using claws to hold the object. This apparatus is unwieldy and so complex as to be cumbersome.
Various holding devices having an elongated handle with a wire array to hold objects have previously been invented, some being U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,338, U.S. Pat. No. 2,116,651, and British Patent No. 2791, issued Dec. 24, 1902. However, these patents describe a golf ball retriever, fruit grasping tongs, and a ping pong ball retriever and would be unsuitable as a holder for smaller objects.
A number of pick-up grippers or pipettes have already been suggested, which generally consist of a holding head with a holding shaft, whereby the individual objects are suctioned up to a suction opening in the holding head via a suction line, transferred in this manner, and deposited on a surface.
The devices facilitate a simple pick-up of the individual components and generally also a faultless deposit of the object on a surface at the location desired in each case. However, in some executions, the source of negative pressure, which is generally connected via a connecting hose through the gripper part to the holding head and its exit opening, is switched on and off by means of a pedal switch. Thereby, movements of hand and feet must be precisely coordinated, and since the deposit of a miniature object onto a surface requires extreme concentration, the operator is disturbed by the additional foot movement, which also easily causes a jarring movement, whereby the component might in some cases be dislocated precisely at that moment when it should be deposited. Increase and decrease of negative pressure in this type of manual equipment are also too slow for many purposes. Furthermore, this type of device is too costly and complicated for consumers attempting to use this type of device in their home.
Holding devices for the abovementioned components have also become known, in which the increase and decrease of pressure is initiated via a switch in the handle or an air escape opening which is opened and closed by the operator. This also causes the disadvantage that additional jarring movements may occur due to the activation of a switch in the shaft and render a correct deposit of the small objects more difficult.
In addition, it should be noted that the spatial assignments between objects and target surface may require orientations that deviate from one another by as much as 180.degrees. Thereby, the operator must also grasp the holding handle in a different way, or turn the hand, which can make the activation of a switch in the handle extremely difficult.
People with unsteady hands or limited control of their fingers often encounter significant difficulties in gripping small objects with their fingers, such as picking up a pill or a paper clip with their finger tips. Similar difficulties are experienced by people who have restricted mobility of their fingers caused by symptomatic joints, such as inflammation, arthritis, or the like. For those people with limited hand/finger dexterity, a hand-held gripping device that allows the person to pick up small objects with relative ease is clearly desirable. Conventional hand-held gripping devices (such as tweezers, needle nose pliers or the like) for handling small objects are not suitable for such use due to the hand dexterity required to operate them.
Some hand-held gripping devices proposed in the past use a pair of relatively wide side members which are hinged or otherwise connected so that the two side members can be pivoted towards each other to grip an object or to scoop the object up with the edges of the side members. Such devices can be seen, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,975,043 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,055. These devices are designed for handling relatively large objects, such as animal excrement or fish, and are generally unsuitable for the purpose of handling small objects. Their relative large sizes also make them difficult to operate by a person with restricted finger control or mobility. Another problem with those gripping devices with two pivotable side members is that such a device does not reliably retain a small object scooped up by the edges of the side members. Typically, the two side members of such a gripping device form two side openings when their respective edges engage each other. Thus, a small object scooped up by the edges may escape from the gripping device through the side openings during subsequent handling by the user. This problem is especially significant for people with unsteady hands.
Turning now from apparatuses used for picking up objects to those used for dispensing objects, the existence of pill or tablet dispensers in the market is not entirely new, as different, ingenious forms or presentations of these dispensers have been known for a long time. A common dispenser consists of two parts, the first being a cap which has in the inside a series of channels with two side slots, and the second a base with two projections which are prolonged upward on the upper end, which are coupled inside the side slots of the cap and slide between the channels forward or backward, thus showing an opposite opening in each case, and in both cases, upon tilting the device, allowing the immediate exit of almost all the pills placed inside the base. This device has the disadvantage that when used, a plurality of the contents is quickly released, as it is impossible to control the exit of the product; furthermore, this dispenser has the inconvenience of being rather bulky.
In another presentation of the prior art, there is a rounded, rectangular container formed by two pieces, one of which forms the container itself, which in turn consists of two lids, an upper and a lower one, wherein the upper one in addition to having a peripheral flange, has a circular orifice on one side, and in the middle part, an elongated rectangular opening through which a sliding piece is introduced. The sliding piece has a projection on the lower part which connects under pressure by the rectangular opening, and moves through it forward or backward by the finger of the user, closing or opening the circular orifice, thus causing the product from inside the container to exit or not through the orifice when the container is abruptly turned upside down. However, if this motion is made carefully, tilting the container almost horizontally, the product can exit one by one. The main defect of this device is that if it is not carefully handled, a plurality of tablets exit indiscriminately from the inside, and therefore they have to be put back in by hand, something which for hygienic reasons is not a commendable operation.
In another embodiment, there is a small, flat, rectangular container formed by two molded plastic pieces. The lower plastic piece serves as a receptacle, and includes a peripherally arranged short flange, slightly toward the outside, with a dividing zone inside with an arched projection on one side, which serves as a guide for the pills, and which widens progressively toward one of the corners to cause the exit of the product. The upper plastic piece serves as a lid with an almost totally internal edge, interrupted only on one side of its ends, and which has a series of notches inside which connect with the container flange and which allow it to slide in on only one end, thus allowing the exit of one or several pills during each use of the device. The defect of this dispensing device is that it constantly breaks the product, with part of the product remaining inside, and therefore the entire product is not used; for this reason its use is neither convenient nor commendable.
Another of the dispensers known in the prior art is that formed of an elongated, bulky container with slightly arched shapes with a sufficient extension to be secured inside the hand. This device consists of three pieces, one of which serves as a container or support, and which has a hollow lower part through which the product will exit from the inside; it also has a cavity inside which narrows downward and which limits the exit of the product; and lastly, in its lower part it has a small horizontal, rectangular channel. The second piece is an upper lid through which the contents of the dispenser are filled or emptied, and the third piece is a slightly arched side piece which acts as a trigger or activating lever, and which is a shaft structure with projections prolonged forward that are used as a support and a perforated, perpendicular tongue through which fits only one of the pills from the inside, and which has a projection at the end to fix it adequately and avoid its coming off. Although this device produces the individual exit of the tablets, its main defect is that it frequently breaks the pills when used, and as its closure is inadequate, loose portions of the broken product continuously exit through the interstices of the container, producing an undesirable effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,753 shows a pill dispenser having a spring loaded inner pill cartridge inside a tubular outer housing. A dispensing lid is threaded atop the outer tube. Reloading this holder is difficult as the pills must be inserted through the bottom of the pill cartridge and pushed upward. Moreover, the pills tend to pop out of the inner tube as the spring pushes the pills upward toward the dispensing opening.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,671,285; 4,295,579; and 4,589,575 show spring loaded pill dispensers. Atop these dispensers is a cap which either swings or is removable to dispense pills. A disadvantage with these dispensers is the tendency of the spring mechanism to allow unwanted pills to pop out.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,228 a pill container consists of two threaded pieces. An eyelet on one piece allows the container to be worn around the user's neck. The pills are free to move and are prone to colliding and breaking.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,294,001 shows a tablet dispenser with a pocket clip, having a threaded plunger rotatably mounted on a coupling. The plunger dispenses a tablet when the coupling is rotated. Reloading this dispenser is time consuming as the plunger must be retracted by rotating the coupling in the opposite direction. Because of the loose fit of the pills, the pills may rattle, cock and break apart during transportation.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,935,180 and 3,612,348 both disclose tablet dispensers employing a ratcheting mechanism. Both of these dispensers are difficult to reload as they are not easily opened.
U.S. Pat. No. 567,488 shows a vial containing a stack of tablets overlaid with a spring and sealed with a cork. This device is difficult to manage as the spring is attached to the cork and fully extends when removed from the vial.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,420,076 and 4,756,407 show pill containers closed by a plug or cap having an eyelet. However, the pills can rattle since there is no mechanism to secure them inside the container. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,095,085; 3,306,493; 3,762,539; and 4,166,537.
Thus, there remains a need for a pick up device which is suitable for use by people with limited hand or finger dexterity and which will allow the person to pick up relatively small objects. The device is desirably hand-held and operable with limited finger movements by the person using the device.